RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
The Emilia-Romagna region comprises 330 municipalities that are grouped into one Metropolitan City (Bologna) and 8 provinces (Ferrara, Forlì-Cesena, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Ravenna, Reggio Emilia and Rimini). The regional population has reached 4,482,977 residents (RER, 1/1/2025).
The economic system is increasingly focused on international markets and features: high rate of entrepreneurship, strong manufacturing sector, high level of innovation, wealth per capita higher than the Italian and European average.
Emilia-Romagna is a top Italian region for innovation (second only to the Autonomous Province of Trento) according to the Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2025 elaborated by the EU Commission.
Emilia-Romagna is the first region in Italy for gross domestic expenditure in R&D (GERD) per inhabitant (Eurostat)
Emilia-Romagna is the first region in Italy for percentage of employment in 'high and medium high-technology manufacturing' (Eurostat)
Emilia-Romagna is the first region in Italy for patent applications per inhabitants (EPO - European Patent Office)
Emilia-Romagna is the first region in Italy for percentage of R&D personnel on the total employment (Eurostat)
Many other indicators show how the regional innovation ecosystem represents an excellence in the national and European context.
| Number of innovative startups in Emilia-Romagna |
|---|
| Number of innovative startups in Emilia-Romagna (May 2026)
854 |
